Game guide



March 26, 1968 c. R. LoTARxus GAME: GUIDE Filed May l', 1965 HI'IN?.mIYZ

CHA RoeT @gil Il F/cg.. 2:

CHARLES R. LOTARIUS INVENTOR.

BY @EW/45M GENT United States Patent O 3,374,557 GAME GUXDE Charles R.Lotarius, Box 684, Paciic Palisades, Calif. 99272 Filed May 17, 1965,Ser. No. 456,158 4 Claims. (Cl. 3S- 29) ABSTRACT F THE DSCLOSURE Atwo-piece game guide is disclosed for assisting a player to hit a remotetarget with a projectile which includes a base member having indiciarepresentative of targets imprinted on the surface of the member andhaving a designated starting area imprinted on the surface of the memberspaced apart from the target indicia. Aiming marks are imprinted on thesurface of the mem-ber between the starting area designation and thetarget indicia. A transparent overlay having a graphic indicationcomposed of straight lines imprinted thereon is arranged infriction-engaging contact with the member and when held in a selectedlocation by the ngers of the user, is adapted to cooperate with theindicia on the member to show a relationship between the target indicia,the aiming marks and the starting designation.

This invention relates to game apparatus and more particularly to an aidor guide used by a player engaging in games employing a projectile,missile or free moving element such as a ball, which is thrown or tossedat objects situated in a target area.

Competitive contests which are representative of such games includebowling, darts, billiards, etc. Games of this category generallycomprise a target area in which a suitable object or objects may beplaced constituting a target or group of targets at which a projectileis thrown or tossed by a player from a distance in an eort to hit orstrike the objects Iarranged in the target area. Usually, after theiirst toss, the remaining objects in the target area present a newtarget arrangement so that a revised or new trajectory or aimingprocedure is required to hit the remaining objects in the target area.Usually, the new aiming method or procedure requires the player to shiftor reorient his body with respect to the target area in order to hit orstrike the remaining objects while ernploying his skill taking intoaccount his individual or particular physical characteristics based onhis knowledge of deflections, angles, etc.

The game of bowling is exemplary of such a game wherein a plurality ofbowling pins are arranged in a prescribed manner in the target area atone end of an elongated alley. The player initially positions his bodyin the center of the alley behind the foul line and rolls rhe bowlingball substantially down the center of the alley in an effort to hit theleading pin and effect what is known in the game as a strike in whichall of the bowling pins in the arrangement are caused to be knockeddown. However, it sometimes happens that only some of the pins areknocked down on the first roll and, according to the rules of the game,the player is permitted a second roll with the bowling ball in which toknock down the remaining pins. The second roll is referred to in thegame as a spare ball and the number of pins knocked down provide theplayer with a spare pin score which is added to his previous score ofstrikes and spares. To

assist the bowler in properly aligning his body with respect to thetarget area and the width of the alley in order to establish a startingpoint for a new aiming procedure for rolling his spare ball,conventional bowling alleys generally include various markers such asdots and arrows on the surface of the alley to serve as spotting marksto be taken into account as the player rolls the bowling ball.

I have found that the ability of the player to gain spare pin points soas to increase his total score is included in the skills necessary tobowl a competitive game. inasmuch as both the pin number positions orarrangement of the bowling pins left standing by an unsuccessful strikeball Varies considerably, the selection of different spots or arrows andcorrespondng player starting positions necessary to knock down theremaining pins on the second or spare ball also varies. Particularly toa beginner, this procedure is not only confusing but almostincomprehensible, because of a beginners lack of even the basicknowledge of deiiections, angles, trajectories, etc. which leaves theplayer at a loss as to where to position himself with respect to thewidth of the alley for rolling the spare ball.

Therefore, there is a need for a simple device which is useful as an aidor guide and which may be employed to assist a player in determining hisbody position and location with respect to the width of the alley andthe foul line of the alley with substantial precision -and accuracy.Accordingly, the game guide of the present invention provides a board orcard having a surface on which is imprinted or marked the format of astandard bowling lane including the player starting area and the bowlingpin pit or area and suitably displaying the foul line, spotting marks orarrows, and tloor boards. A transparent overlay having a permanentangularly disposed graphic guide line imprinted thereon is employed toindicate specic spotting arrows which are to be used for aiming purposesand having a second removable line marked thereon in continuity with thefirst line which is employed to indicate the location where the playersfeet should be to initiate the spare ball toss. By properly arrangingthe overlay on the simulated bowling alley marked on the card, one endof lthe permanent line is placed adjacent the pin or pin arrangementserving as a target for the second or spare ball and the other endplaced on a selected arrow mark while one end of the second line on theoverlay lines up with the starting position of the player so that eitherhis right or left foot location on respective boards of the alley isindicated. By following the instructions on the guide, the player canphysically position himself in the starting area so that he is in theproper location for initiating his second or spare ball roll.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide agame guide or aid which will assist a player in competitive sports inproperly locating himself with respect to -a starting area for rollingor tossing a projectile at a target area or arrangement with precisionand accuracy.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel game guideor aid for assisting a player in rolling or tossing a projectile at atarget area by indicating his starting position while taking intoaccount the players skill and physical peculiarities.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novelgame guide or aid such as may be used in the game of bowling which takesinto account peculiarities of a players physical skills for determiningthe players starting position with respect to selected targets in atarget area.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel bowlingguide or aid which carries markings and indicia representative of aconventional bowling alley and an overlay displaying characteristics ofthe individual players skill which when the overlay is combined with theformat of the bowling alley indicates to the player his startingposition and location behind the foul line with respect to thearrangement of pins in the target area.

Still another object of the present invention is to proasrgssr 3 vide anovel players game guide or aid which will assist a bowler to pick-upspare score points without requiring the player to have basic knowledgeof deflection, angles, trajectories etc.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel areset forth with particularity in the appended claims. The presentinvention both as to its organization and manner of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages thereof, may be best understood byreference to the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a game guide or aid incorporating the presentinvention showing markings and indicia imprinted thereon such as may beemployed in the game of bowling;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the guide shown in FIGURE 1 as seenfrom one end illustrating a slit opening therein;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of an overlay having trajectory or aiming linesimpr'mted thereon which is used in conjunction with the guide of FIGUREl; and

FIGURE 4 is an end elevational view of the overlay as shown in FIGURE 3.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, a guide or aid for the game of bowling isshown in the general direction of arrow which may be said to comprise ortake the form of a board or envelope member having a surface 11imprinted thereon with symbols and lines representing a format of abowling alley, lane or playing track and a surface 12 which may beemployed to display other printing such as advertising, rules, usages ofthe guide etc. The envelope member is provided with a slit opening 13into which a transparent overlay 14, as shown in FIGURE 3, may beinserted for storage purposes.

The printing of indicia characters representing the format of a bowlingalley on surface 11 includes a pair of spaced parallel lines 15 and 16which define and represent the width or boundaries of a bowling lanewhile line 17, which is transverse to lines 15 and 16 represent one endof the alley or lane. Adjacent to line 17, there is imprinted on thesurface -11 a plurality of numbered circles 18 which represent thebowling pins disposed in a prescribed a-rrangement or positions such aswould -be normally used in an actual game of bowling. The location ofthe pins and the arrangement thereof may be said to be located in atarget area 20.

The other end of the envelope from the target area within lines 15 and16 may be said to represent a starting area designated by numeral 21 inwhich a player would normally stand on a bowling alley in order to takeaim at the bowling pins and in which to take a few steps prior toreleasing or delivering the bowling ball inA the direction of the pins.The starting area is terminated by a foul line 22 which is an arbitraryline employed in the game of bowling over which a player must notoverrun during a pitch or toss of the bowling bowl according to therules of play. Between the starting area and the target area, thesimulated bowling lane incorporated onto the surface of the presentinvention includes a plurality of spots or arrows, such as arrow 23,which are arranged in alignment with the position and arrangement of the:bowling pins in the target area. In actually bowling a game, 'a playermay employ these arrows and spots during his aiming procedure to directhis bowling ball at a particular target in the target area.

To more precisely define the proper location and position of the playersfeet in the starting area within the boundaries of the alley or lane, aplurality of lines 24 are provided which indicate the fioor 'boards ofan actual bowling alley and for ready lreference to the number ofboards, a plurality of dots, such as dot 25, are arranged in a pair oftransverse rows.

Also indicated on the surface of the envelope, are a pair of brokenlines 26 and 27 which converge from the most commonly used second arrowstowards the target area to terminate between the bowling pin numbers V1and 2 and numbers 1 and 3 which may be referred to as the strikepockets. Only one ybroken line is used at a time in the operation of theguide and the use of either line is dependent upon whether the player isright handed or left handed. However, for the purposes of thisinvention, any other arrows or board location may be substituted fromwhich to initiate the start of the line towards the target area.

With respect to FIGURES 3 and 4, the transparent overlay 14 is shownhaving dimensions which are slightly larger than the area defined by thelines 1S and 16 specifying the boundaries of the bowling laney on thesurface 11 of member 10. However, the width of the overlay is such as topermit the insertion of the overlay through the slit opening 13 in theenvelope member for storage purposes when the guide is not in use. Theoverlay is provided with an indication representing the target area suchas by the words pin end on one end .of the overlay while the other endof the overlay may carry indicia indicating the starting area by meansof the word start Such indicia and indications readily permit the properalignment of the overlay with the member 10 and the bowling alley formatdisplayed thereon. A diagonal line 28 is scored, imprinted or suitablyplaced on the surface of the overlay by such means as may be required toprovide a permanent linewhich is angularly disposed from thelongitudinal center line of the overlay and which extends from thecenter of the overlay at the pin end to a terminating mark such as line30. The line 30 may be said to represent the No. 2 arrow 23 which isused for spotting as indicated on the bowling alley format imprinted onthe surface 11 of the envelope member. When the overlay is placed on topof the bowling alley form-at, the line 28 will mate with and follow theline 27 on surface 11 of the envelope. If the overlay is reversed, suchas for a left handed bowler, the line 28 will mate with line 26.

On the surface of the overlay composed of transparent material, a brokenline is indicated by the numeral 3,1 which may be drawn by a pencil, penor crayon and yet be removable should the bowler wish to change theline. The broken line 31 is applied to the overlay surface by a playerand represents the elements peculiar to the individual player that areinvolved in his process of delivering or tossing his ball. Line 31 isdrawn `by the player after a few tosses of the ball so that he canestablish a relationship between the position of his feet, the spottingarrows, and the targets or bowling pins taking into account anyparticular hooks, curves, or other peculiarities of his bowling style.The player places a dot near to the start edge at the point where histoe is located on the alley when he is throwing his strike ball, and itwould be the location of his left toe for a right hander and thelocation of his right toe for a left hander. After such determination,the player may then draw the line 31 from the start edge of the overlaydirectly to the spotting line 30 so that continuity exists between line31 and line 28 and the overlay is ready for use with the format on theenvelope member.

It is particularly pointed out that the lines 28 and 31 are not intendedto represent the actual path of the bowling ball as it may travel downthe bowling lane. These lines are graphic indications showing therelationship between the destination point of the ball, the arrow orspot over which the ball is aimed,'and the location of the toe at thestarting point.

To employ the game guide for the game of -bowling as shown in thedrawings, the pin end of the line 28 Yimprinted on the overlay 14 isplaced at a point in the pin area 20 where the ball is directed to hit aparticular target pin 18 and the line 30 directly on the same arrow 23used for the strike ball, or any other position which later trial mayprove best. The starting position of a player is where the end of theline 31 crosses the starting spot represented by specific oor boards 24in the starting area 21 and this is the location where the players toeshould be placed for that particular roll of the ball.

The guide may be used at the beginning o f each players turn to roll thebowling ball; in the event the players characteristics of style change,line 31 may be erased from the overlay and the line re-drawn toestablish new toe location points for the player.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatchanges and modiiications may be made without departing from thisinvention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in theappended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fallwithin the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A two-piece bowling game guide for assisting a player to locate thefeet of his body in a starting area of a bowling lane preparatory totossing or delivering a bowling ball towards a target area having anarrangement of bowling pins wherein the ball is intended to hit selectedpins in the arrangement, the combination cornprising:

an envelope member presenting an uninterrupted obverse and anuninterrupted reverse surface;

a pair of broken lines imprinted on said envelope member obverse surfacediverging from one of said bowling pin designations and terminating atselected aiming marks wherein said broken lines are representat-ive ofthe bowling ball aiming path to hit the bowling pins;

a format representative of a bowling lane employed in the game ofbowling imprinted on said obverse surface of said envelope memberincluding a starting area simulating the starting area in which theplayer posit-ions his body to toss the bowling ball, a bowling pin areaincluding a plurality of bowling pin designations representative of thebowling pins to be hit by the bowling ball, and a plurality of aimingmarks disposed between said simulated starting area and said bowling pinarea arranged transversely across said envelope member obverse surface;and

a fiat transparent member separate from and unattached to said envelopemember having an angularly disposed graphic indication marked thereonand adapted to be manually positioned over said bowling lane format infrictional engaging contact therewith and held immobile by the usersfingers whereby said graphic indication establishes a simulated bodyposition for the player in said format starting area as determined bythe intersection of selected ones of said bowling pin designations andsaid aiming marks.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said bowling lane formatincludes a plurality of lines printed on said envelope member obversesurface indicative of floor boards employed in the construction of thebowling lane and a plurality of dots printed within said simulatedstarting area on said envelope member obverse surface which are arrangedin transverse rows for identification of particular ones of said floorboard lines.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said graphic indicationmarked on said transparent member includes a straight permanent lineextending from the center of said transparent member at one end thereofto an area on said transparent member which overlies one of said aimingmarks and a straight removable line extending from said last mentionedarea in continuity with said permanent line and angularly disposedtherefrom to a point on said transparent member which overlies saidsimulated starting area whereby said point is indicative of the preciselocation as displayed by said floor board lines of where the playersfeet should be preparatory to delivering the bowl-ing ball to thebowling pins, said combined permanent line and removable lineconstituting an aiming path and not a trace of the ball course.

4. The invention as dened in claim 3 whereby said envelope memberincludes a slit opening on one end thereof leading into a receptacledisposed between said obverse and reverse surfaces and adapted toremovably receive said transparent member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,294,276 8/ 1942 Callinicos35-40 2,942,358 6/1960 Pomranz 35-29 2,989,810 6/1961 Marting 35-293,012,339 12/1961 Peterson 35-29 3,081,559 3/1963 Kaminsky 35-293,279,097 10/ 1966 Tomblin 35-29 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. H.S. SKOGQUIST, Assistant Examiner.

